Communicators comment on rapidly changing global climate.

As we see the global political and economic climate change almost daily, we decided to ask several IABC communicators from different parts of the world to comment on how these changes might affect the profession. We posed four questions and asked these communicators to offer their views on any or all of them.

Questions:

1. As new geographical territories open, particularly in eastern Europe, what new skills will the communicator need to develop to deal with different philosophies and ways of doing business? How can they gain these skills?

2.Will the communication/public relations professional assume a more responsible role in helping top management develop services and business ventures as these Eastern bloc borders open?-and as European economic barriers come down in 1992? What are the implications of these two events?

3.Do you see any indications of major change as Hong Kong reverts to the People's Republic in 1997? How will the 1989 student demonstrations affect future communication and/or business relations with mainland China?

4.What new opportunities do you see for communicators, particularly those who before now might not have seen themselves involved in an international business environment?

The following communicators responded. We are printing their comments to the questions to which they chose to respond.

Jim Pritchitt, Public Relations Counsel Pty. Ltd., Northbridge, Australia.

Richard Liss, president IABC/ Belgium, and director, The European Communications Group, Brussels.

Per Arne Totland, president, IABC/ Norway, and vice president, corporate communication, Dyno Industries, Oslo.

John Ford, IABC Europe/Africa regional director and managing director, Gavin Anderson & Co., (UK) Ltd.

Chris Bunting, ABC, chairman and chief executive officer, Continental/ Golin/Harris Communications, Inc., Toronto, Canada.

Question No. 1 :

As new geographical territories open, particularly in eastern Europe, what new skills will the communicator need to develop to deal with different philosophies and ways of doing business? How can they gain these skills?

Jim Pritchitt:

I have left it as long as possible to write my thoughts to try to take into account the latest changes in Eastern Europe, which without doubt are the most significant in Europe since the end of World War II, and may end up being much more significant. Such changes were unimaginable only months ago, but can they last? Will they become part of a new way of life for millions of people?

The pessimist in me says that people with power do not surrender it that easily and that there could be a reaction. It is not too hard to imagine that Phase two of the changes in eastern Europe could be a tightening up. Nonetheless we should be optimistic and hope for the best.

No doubt a great many opportunities will arise if eastern European countries continue to adopt a more open style. With freedom comes the desire for information, which creates enormous opportunities for communication and public relations people. The total communication market will be given a huge boost, resulting in continued demand and opportunities for good people everywhere.

Entrepreneurial organisations which become involved in the trade and marketing activities (in both directions) that will arise in eastern Europe, will require help from communicators. There will be demands for information of all types and in many areas. I think it will involve not so much the development of new skills (except in areas such as language) as the continual development, enhancement and adjustment of existing skills. Obviously anyone who has only been involved in communications in their own country and who is asked to help on an international front will need skills they have not used before. Those people who already have experience and expertise in international public relations or communication should have a good idea of what is going to be needed and be able to adjust accordingly. Anyone who is already a member of an international organisation such as IABC must have a head start.

John Ford:

One of the major problems with the opening of completely new geographical territories-particularly eastern Europe-is that there is often little or no understanding of the real value of communication. As eastern Europe moves away from centrally planned economies, where communication is all but irrelevant, to market driven economies, the whole concept of marketing, public relations and advertising has to be reborn. Before we can help them communicate we have to teach them the value and the need for structured communication.

Chris Bunting, ABC

Doing business in the Soviet Union in particular takes an open mind and plenty of patience. Even though the Soviets are now openly embracing some Western business philosophies and techniques, they still must change their habits of doing business that are based on centuries of viewing the world and commerce in a non-Western way.

When you work in the USSR on a project, it is easy enough to see that Soviets do not have at their disposal the vast infrastructure of technology that we in North America so take for granted. Facsimile machines, photocopiers, even overseas phone lines are not easily available in the largest cities, let alone smaller places. What is more difficult to discern is the mentality of the people, their mindset, the way they have been taught to do things and the things they do not know about. They do not know, for example, how to set a price for a product or a service. If you deal with the major Soviet organizations that can help you with event planning in the Soviet Union, they will ask you what you want to pay for, say a block of hotel rooms with banquet meals. They do not understand supply and demand. With state-fixed prices for 70 years, they have not had to.

Similarly, the Soviets do not understand modern practices in advertising, marketing or media relations. There are talented and gifted people there eager to change, eager to learn. The opportunities for westerners who have the desire and patience to help them are endless.

Richard Liss:

We are looking at something enormous in its potential. The creation of a market 50 percent bigger than the US. However, there is an important difference. Even after trade barriers are eliminated, unlike the US, Europe will still have broad cultural and language differences. And this makes two areas vitally important: distribution and communication. Organizations that get those two right will be the winners. Those that don't will disappear.

My company, ECG, is already feeling it. What we've been doing for 17 years, Pan-European marketing communication, has suddenly become sexy. People are seeing that doing things internationally can be more economical and more efficient. Unfortunately, doing successful international communication involves a lot more creativity and hard work than glamour.

Almost everything we do is in at least five languages so it involves lots of details. If you don't get the details right, you can forget the grand strategy. As a result, successful international communicators must be both highly creative as well as being good managers. A rare combination. The lucky CEO who gets one of those should take very good care of him or her.

Per Arne Totland:

As eastern Europe opens up, I see two major challenges for communicators. The first is for us in the West to communicate with the East. The second is to help develop the communication skills within east Europe's industries.

In my opinion, the ability to communicate with eastern audiences is a fundamental basis for success in the East. A number of western companies are, like my company, establishing subsidiaries and joint ventures together with the industries of the Soviet Union, Hungary, East Germany, etc.

If such ventures are to be successful, they have to be based on an understanding of the goals, ambitions, needs and expectations of the East. And we have to go in there without being biased.

It is my opinion, and experience, that communication professionals are the ones best prepared for analysing these issues. Investing in today's eastern Europe has an enormous upside potential, but it will also be a high-risk investment. There is the political uncertainty, uncertainty whether the East will be able to pay you back at all, and the uncertainty of which way the public opinion will turn in the months and years ahead.

Very few companies today have people who do political analysis. To be able to play a more important role in the approach towards eastern Europe, corporate communicators should develop their skills as political analysts. In communicating with the East, research is more important than ever.

The job actually will be to define:

* What are the needs in the East?

* How can we in the West meet these needs?

* How do we communicate our role to eastern audiences without experiencing a backfire? The expectations in the East are now extremely high, and they cannot possibly be met in a very long time. This has to be communicated as well.

Eastern industry does not know anything about communication. In fact, eastern Europe is right now taking the step from the age of propaganda to the age of communication. They will have to learn about marketing, about employee communication and motivation, about business-to-business communication and about public relations. They will, of course, have to develop their own tools and means of communication. But they will have to learn the basics from us in the West. For IABC, the world's leading association for communication professionals, this is a tremendous challenge.

Question No. 2:

Will the communication/public relations professional assume a more responsible role in helping top management develop services and business ventures as these eastern bloc borders open ?-and as European economic barriers come down in 1992? What are the implications of these two events?

Jim Pritchitt:

Communication/public relations professionals must assume a responsible role in helping develop communication services and providing advice to eastern bloc countries.

Only this week the first Moscow public relations consultancy was announced, and it is only a matter of time before the major international consultancies open offices in such centres, and more local communicators from government and the media establish their own businesses.

Most important, organisations such as IABC and IPRA have a responsibility to assist the development of good public relations and communication practice and ethical standards, and must seek ways of providing such help.

John Ford:

The dismantling of European economic barriers has provided both an extraordinary challenge and a unique opportunity for the communication business.

The challenge lies in the widely differing cultural backgrounds and languages of the member states. Although many of the economic and physical barriers have gone, the cultural differences remain and we have to learn to communicate within the accepted practices of each country.

If the communication profession has got its act together in meeting those challenges, the opportunity lies in the inevitability of the profession undertaking a leading role in helping top management develop business and services across the European community.

Question No. 3:

Do you see any indications of major change as Hong Kong reverts to the People's Republic in 1997? How will the 1989 student demonstrations affect-future communication and/or business relations with mainland China?

Jim Pritchitt:

I support the theory that Hong Kong will remain fairly open as a window to China, even after 1997. The world saw a great desire for more freedom in China during 1989, even though this was ruthlessly suppressed. It depends on who's in power in the next few years.

Who knows what can happen in the next seven months, let alone the next seven years? We have seen things move very quickly in eastern Europe, and these days seemingly anything can happen. There are already a handful of public relations consultancies with operations in China, as well as moves to form a local public relations association there. Couple this with a very active and competent public relations profession in Hong Kong and the extremely advanced communication infrastructure there, it is almost certain that the toe hold that public relations has in China will develop substantially even after 1997.

We must also remember that international trade with China grew dramatically throughout the eighties. Despite the horror of June 1989, this growth is likely to continue during the next decade, with communication, internally and externally assuming greater importance. However many countries in the Asian region are in a state of flux and there are also bound to be many changes elsewhere.

Question No. 4

What new opportunities do you see for communicators, particularly those who before now might not have seen themselves involved in an international business environment?

Jim Pritchitt:

The international opportunities in the 1990s for communicators can only be described as inevitable. During the 1980s we have seen the development of global public relations through the growth of previously existing international consultancies and the establishment and development of many more.

A comparison in the number and size of those international consultancies at the start of 1980 compared with now shows huge growth. I see in the 1990s as the maturing of public relations as an internationally accepted service industry-with many new areas opening, for instance eastern Europe.

Just as important in the equation is the fairly recent emergence of true global communication accounts for public relations firms. This can only continue to develop, leading to a great many more opportunities, not only for those involved in consultancies with large networks, but also for specialist smaller consultancies which will be asked to help with projects where the need for local knowledge and expertise is needed for the global programs. The role of the communication manager will include developing and implementing global programs and strategies for organisations.

Many important social issues affecting our work will also have an international dimension. Take for example issues such as the environment. All will agree this is set to continue as a major communication issue for the 1990s, but it is also one which can never be seen as purely a domestic issue. Communicators working for most organisations must be aware of the full international dimensions of the environmental issue.

Many of those who wish to develop international skills and who want to keep informed of developments have taken the first most important step, membership in an international organisation such as the IABC or IPRA.

To me the contact and exposure to other cultures and countries and the opportunities for networking that this gives are the most important benefits of such membership.

John Ford:

With virtually instantaneous global communication open to anyone, with genuinely global financial markets and with huge growth in international businesses and trading, the demands on professional communicators are enormous. If we can rise to that challenge the opportunities are equally huge.

Charities are raising funds on a global basis, companies' shares are increasingly traded by international investors, businesses are merging and acquiring across international borders on a daily basis, goods are often manufactured in several different countries, assembled in others and sold in many more.

Communicators, both internal and external have never had better opportunities to get involved in the development of international communications for their organisations. They have the capability and opportunity to make things happen, to be the initiators and motivators in driving international business.

Chris Bunting:

Often professional communicators have educational backgrounds that focus on the liberal arts. Literature, history, philosophy, political science these are all especially useful backgrounds for communicators who wish to work in international business.

Why? Because these academic disciplines give people an appreciation of other cultures, and why they have evolved differently from those in North America, or even western Europe. This can add a depth of understanding and patience when dealing with different cultures that gives a real edge in business dealings. Professionals with narrowly focused technical backgrounds may lack that edge.

I would, therefore, encourage professional communicators who become excited by the historical changes sweeping particular parts of the world right now to be bold. Search for a way to be a part of history! Get involved with an international undertaking. You will be enriched by the experience.